


prince roman’s rotten luck

by princelogical



Series: Sanders Sides Misc. Work [37]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, OT3, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 13:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16766173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princelogical/pseuds/princelogical
Summary: “You are on our property."The man gave a smile that was charming, even with the scratches all over his face. "Apologies, friend. ‘Fraid I didn’t quite realise.""What’s with the sword?” Virgil asked.“Just for protection,” the man called back. “I’ll be on my way now.” The man lowered his sword with a polite smile, took one step forward, then promptly face-planted onto the muddy ground.or.That one time Patton, Virgil, and Logan met a Prince in the last way they expected.





	prince roman’s rotten luck

Patton hummed quietly to himself as the rain gently pattered down on the roof of the hut. He quite liked the rain; it made him feel relaxed and safe somehow as he sat, carefully folding up laundry in the dim lighting of his bedroom. He did, however, feel a little bit lonely sitting all alone with no one in sight. Logan was probably in the tiny little library reading- Virgil was likely busy doing… something. Patton didn't wish to bother them.

Before his thoughts could continue on, there was a quiet knock at the doorframe. He looked up in surprise, face splitting into a grin as he met Virgil's gaze. Virgil gave a hesitant smile back and stepped into the room, wrapping his arms around Patton's shoulders and gently placing a kiss to his jaw.

"You okay in here, Pat?"

Patton nodded. "Just finishing up some laundry. Lil' tired though."

"The rain might explain some of that," Virgil said, taking a seat on the bed beside Patton's pile of folded laundry. "Makes it look a little darker out."

"Yeah." Patton sighed, folding up the last jacket and setting aside the basket. "What's Lo up to?"

"Reading, like a nerd."

Patton giggled. "Just 'cause you read doesn't mean you're a nerd."

"Oh come now. No one can quite manage to be nerdier than Logan. He doesn’t even have to read to be a nerd."

"No, he doesn’t, does he?" Patton said and leaned in to press a kiss to Virgil's lips. Virgil smiled, deepening the kiss. Just as Virgil was lifting his hand to cup Patton's jaw, there was a loud thump that sounded from outside. The two drew apart, frowning.

"What was that?" Virgil asked tensely, a heavy edge of anxiety creeping in his voice.

"Maybe a… tree branch?" Patton suggested weakly.

Virgil shook his head. "No. That's not it." He stood up. "Stay here."

"No, I'm coming too," Patton said. He hesitated a brief moment then reached under the bed and grabbed Virgil's dagger. He handed it to Virgil who took it with a grim look.

The two made their way out of the room to find Logan standing tensely in the living room. He glanced over at the two of them.

"It was not my imagination then," he noted.

"No," Virgil said.

Patton watched as Virgil adjusted the dagger at his side. Then, with a deep breath, he swung open the front door. Patton tensed upon hearing Virgil's loud gasp.

Upon racing over to the doorframe with Virgil, Patton's eyes widened. There, in the small clearing in front of their place in the forest, stood a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties and was dressed in torn and dirtied regal attire. His face was covered in scratches but even then, he looked vaguely familiar. He stood quite unsteadily on wobbly legs. One of his arms was raised at chest-level and stretched forward, grasping a sword tightly in his fist. Most startling of all, he was barefoot, feet filthy with dirt and blood.

"What the hell are you doing, man?" Virgil shouted.

"Resting!" the man called back.

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "You are on our property."

The man gave a smile that was charming, even with the scratches all over his face. "Apologies, friend. 'Fraid I didn't quite realise."

"What's with the sword?" Virgil asked, stepping out onto the worn welcome mat.

"Just for protection," the man called back. "I'll be on my way now." The man lowered his sword with a polite smile, took one step forward, then promptly face-planted onto the muddy ground.

Before Virgil or Logan could attempt to stop him, Patton flew forward in worry. He crouched down, gently flipping the man over. His eyes were shut, coloured with purple and green bruises. Patton let out a soft whine of sympathy when he noticed the terrible angle that the man's ankle was at.

He felt a presence beside him and looked to see Logan crouching down with a troubled frown. Patton felt his protective instincts immediately flaring up, only heightening as Virgil's footsteps came up behind him. He threw his hands over the man, guarding him as best as he could.

"He's not a threat," he choked out. "That's not me being naïve either. Look at him!"

"I know," Logan said softly. "I am merely here to asses him, Patton. It is all right. Stand down."

Patton did as he was told, hesitantly pulling back. Logan's fingers traced over Roman's body, gently poking and prodding. Patton shivered, rainwater dripping from his glasses and nose and hair.

"I would rather not move him. He appears to have multiple broken bones, sprains, and lacerations. However, he cannot survive out here. It is far too cold. Patton, honey, do we have a large and sturdy blanket that I could use?" Logan asked.

Patton nodded quickly, grateful to be given something to do. He ran inside, snatched up a blanket from the hall closet, and ran back out. He handed it to Logan who took it with a grateful smile.

"I would like to keep him lying as flat as possible right now. Could you help me get this under him?" Logan asked. Both Virgil and Patton set to work at awkwardly sliding the blanket under the man. Then, when their work was finished, the three of them carefully carried him by the corners of the blanket and laid him down on the couch. Patton set his sword on the little wooden coffee table.

"Do you know what happened to him, L?" Virgil asked as Logan began unbuttoning Roman's coat.

Logan let out a weary sigh. "I am only able to assume." Patton winced as he watched Logan pull the coat away from Roman's stomach, revealing dark discolouration all over his torso. "From his attire alone, I would assume he is of a royal class, perhaps a knight. He bears the royal crest, further proving my assumption correct."

"So he's a knight?" Patton asked.

Logan shook his head. "Not merely a knight alone, no. Do you two not recognize his face? This is the prince, Prince Roman himself."

Virgil's eyes widened. "Holy shit."

"Holy shit indeed," Logan said. Patton was too shocked to even scold the two for their language. "His ribs are bruised. I assume by the marks," Logan traced the circular marks on Roman's ribs, "that it was done with a ram of some sort. Likely intentional."

"Torture," Virgil filled in.

Logan nodded. "All of his injuries seem to be from torture of some sort- the only ones which do not are the scratches on his face." Logan brushed them softly. "Branches. He was running from something."

"What do you think he was running from?" Patton asked.

"His captors, by the look of it." Logan traced Roman's ankles. "There are deep indentions from chains. I am assuming that he broke his ankle from trying to escape from them."

Patton felt quite suddenly like he was going to cry. "How can we help?" he asked.

"We can alleviate his discomfort for the time being. I will need some bandages, salve, a board, and my medical kit."

Virgil and Patton rose to gather the items. Patton grabbed salve, gauze, bandages, and the medical kit from the closet while Virgil grabbed the rest. The two made their way back into the living room and deposited the objects on the coffee table.

Logan nodded gratefully. "This cut on his collarbone," Logan pointed to it, "is going to need stitches. I can bind his ankle so he won't further irritate it. Same with his fingers.”

Patton winced in sympathy. "Poor kiddo." 

"Can we help any?" Virgil asked. 

"No. Thank you."

"Pat and I will fix some dinner then."

"You might want to make a little extra in case he awakens and is hungry."

Virgil nodded then gently grasped Patton's arm, pulling him with him. "Come on."

Patton busied himself in the kitchen by making dinner with Virgil. He went a little overboard, admittedly, but who could blame him? He was nervous! By the time Logan had walked in to say he was finished, Patton had produced a big bowl of spicy cream of chicken soup, two loaves of banana bread, a dozen cookies, and one cake. Logan raised an eyebrow at the food.

"Are we expecting the whole royal party now?" Logan asked teasingly.

Virgil laughed. "He must be."

"You have no room to speak. You enabled this."

Virgil promptly flipped him off and Patton snorted, lightly swatting Virgil's arm in response. Then, he sobered, looking to Logan expectantly. "Is he okay?"

Logan adjusted his glasses nervously. "I have tended to his injuries and he is still sleeping. I think his adrenaline has run out and he is experiencing a crash of exhaustion at the moment. Otherwise, he seems to be doing all right, all things considered."

Patton lurched forward, wrapping his arms around Logan's waist. "You're amazing, Lo."

"I…" Logan swallowed. His hand settled over Patton's back, the other one sliding into his curls. "I did my best."

"And your best is enough," Virgil said softly. "Let's eat."

Patton dished out a helping to everyone and the three sat at the table in the kitchen, eating far more quietly than usual. After they finished, Logan rose to put his dish in the sink and swayed on his feet. Virgil stood up, gently grabbing his bicep.

"Rest, L. Patton and I'll clean up."

The two walked off and Patton began working on the dishes. Soon enough, Virgil returned, helping Patton finish the work in silence.

"You can go to bed," Patton said. "I'll watch him."

Virgil frowned worriedly. "You need to rest at some point too, Pat."

"I know, honey." He smiled encouragingly. "I just… I want to make sure everything's okay with him."

Virgil nodded. "Wake us up if anything happens. If I even manage to fall asleep," he said with a cynical smile.

Patton leaned over and kissed Virgil softly. "I will. Rest well."

"You too."

Patton carried a blanket from the hall closet and settled himself down on the couch beside where Prince Roman slept, brow furrowed, even in slumber. His coat had been discarded, revealing his torso covered in bandages. His fingers were covered in bandages. His ankle was firmly bound between two short boards and a bunch of gauze. Patton watched him until his eyes began to blur and he found himself laying back against the couch, eyes too heavy to remain open.

Patton awoke to the sound of the couch squeaking. Tiredly, Patton peeled his eyes open to see Roman shakily trying to push himself up on the arm. His breathing was ragged, chest rising and falling rapidly.

Patton pushed himself up, pushing his glasses up properly on his face, and reached his hands out to gently steady Roman by the shoulders. Roman's wide and frightened eyes met Patton's earnest ones. He must have seen something there, for the fight seemed to leave him and he allowed Patton to guide him back down onto the couch.

"I'm sorry, kiddo; you must be really scared to just wake up here like this… Uh. Do you remember anything?"

Slowly, Roman nodded. "I… Fell. On your property."

Patton smiled. "That's right! And Logan patched you all up."

Roman blinked slowly. "Tell him that I appreciate it."

"I shall," Patton said. "Do you feel all right enough to eat something?"

Roman smiled hesitantly. "I am starving, my friend."

"I'll get you some food. It's cold and it'd take quite a while to heat up… so. I can give it to you cold if you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all."

Patton hurried off to prepare a bowl of the soup. He wrapped a cookie and slice of the bread in a little cloth, then walked back, handing Roman the food, along with a spoon. Roman smiled gratefully.

"Thank you. So much."

"It's not a problem," Patton said.

Roman took a bite of the soup and groaned loudly. Patton blushed as Roman made vague gestures to the bowl.

"This is delicious. Thank you… uh?"

"Patton."

"Thank you, Patton." Roman smiled. "Your friends… you have two of them?" he asked, shovelling another bite into his mouth.

"Virgil and Logan. They're my… partners."

Roman nodded. He took another bite. "My name is Roman, by the way."

"Yeah. Logan figured that out."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Smart fellow."

Patton shrugged. "He is."

"He figured out… my status too then?"

Patton nodded.

Roman nodded back, looking grim, and finished his food in silence. After he finished, Patton took the bowl and cloth from him and brought it into the sink then quietly slipped into the bedroom where Logan and Virgil laid on the big bed in his room, fast asleep. He carefully walked over and gently nudged their shoulders.

Logan merely buried his face deeper into the pillow. Virgil, however, blearily opened his eyes. Then, he jerked awake once he saw Patton.

"Patton? Is everything all right?"

"Roman's awake," he said.

Virgil nodded. "We'll be there in a moment."

Patton headed back into the living room to see Roman prodding at his collarbone where the stitches were.

"I wouldn't mess with those, kiddo. You might hurt yourself."

Roman lowered his hand and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry. They're just… Pretty well done. They don't even hurt much unless I press them." As if to prove his point, Roman pushed down on them once again and winced.

"Logan's really good at that kind of thing," Patton said.

"He sure is," a new voice added from the entryway. Virgil. He walked into the room, crossing his arms. "You're lucky your dumbass running around on all those injuries didn't make it worse though, Princey. Especially considering we're a bunch of strangers who could have killed you in your sleep, falling over outside like that."

"You're… pleasant," Roman said.

"He's really nice, deep down," Patton said.

"You would have to look pretty far down," Logan said, walking into the room, and voice deep with early-morning tiredness. Virgil smacked him lightly, smirking.

Logan sat beside Roman and began examining him, carefully peeling back some of the bandages. Roman watched Logan's hands warily and Patton could tell by the way Roman was breathing that he was incredibly nervous. Finally, Logan finished up by carefully changing one of the bandages which Roman had bled through. Logan sat back, adjusted his glasses, then laced his fingers together.

"I apologise but I believe we are within our right to expect an explanation," Logan began. "It is not every day Prince Roman shows up at our doorstep. An injured Prince Roman, nonetheless."

Roman eyed them all carefully as Virgil came and sat beside Patton. Then, his eyes settled on his sword and he winced.

"It is… quite a long story."

"We have time and patience," Logan said.

Roman took a deep breath. "I fear by aiding me, you all have unwittingly invited a danger into your home that you do not deserve."

Virgil's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

"I am Prince Roman, son of King Ryan the third. My father made a grave error in trading with an enemy kingdom. They grew angry and invaded the castle, not but three weeks ago. They took me away with them and held me captive in their dungeons." Roman swallowed, tracing the stitches on his collarbone with a trembling hand. "There, they tortured me and starved me. I was unaware of what was happening.

"One night, a guard came into my cell and undid the chain on my legs, for a reason I did not know. I was too weak to run or attempt any more than what I did. With what little strength I had, I took the sword from his belt and I killed him. That alone took much of my strength, but I had to finish what I had started or I knew I would surely die.

"I snuck through the rest of the castle, managing to overhear the royal council speaking of my father. I stayed enough to hear that in exchange for my slaughter, they would drop their charges against my father's kingdom. Apparently, my father had agreed."

Patton couldn't help the little gasp of shock that came from his mouth. He couldn't, in any capacity, understand how a father would be willing to do such a thing.

"After discovering this, I went as fast as I could to escape the castle. There was many who got in my way." Roman closed his eyes, clenching a fist over his collarbone, and looked as if he were in great emotional distress. "I don't know if it was the adrenaline or what, but I managed to escape through all of them. I found myself running through the forest, several knights on my tail until I somehow lost them several miles back from where I collapsed."

"Wow," Virgil said.

Patton almost burst into tears. "You poor thing," he whispered softly.

Roman winced. "I would not pity me. It is all of our lives that are now in danger, as long as I stay here. I appreciate your kindness, all of you. But I must be leaving or-"

Before Patton could even think of saying a word of protest, Virgil beat him to it, arms crossed and face set. "You plan to make it a foot out of here in your condition?"

"Virgil is right," Logan chimed in. "It is unlikely you can make it far at all. Your ankle is broken and snapped from the joint. Your ribs are terribly bruised, all of your left fingers broken. You are terribly vulnerable."

"What do you people suggest I do?" Roman asked, beginning to sound angry. "I am not needlessly putting anyone in danger."

Virgil let out a loud laugh. "You haven't much of a choice, Princey."

"I am a _Prince_. You've no right to hold me against my will."

"You don't have much power right now, seeing as your own father, a _King_ , wants you dead," Virgil snapped.

Roman's eyes flashed and Patton's heart broke as he saw tears building up within them.

"Kiddo," Patton said softly, "it would be wrong of us to turn you away, especially in a moment of need like this."

"You all are foolish," Roman muttered, a tear tracing his cheek. Even Virgil's expression softened at that. "Foolish people, indeed."

"Prince Roman, with all due respect, I used to be a pretty well-known practicing doctor," Logan said. "I will be able to tend to your injuries here. This hut is hidden well enough to the point we are very rarely bothered unless we wish to be. We may take extra precautions as well, if need be, to further hide it from sight. There are places here which we could hide you, should an army come looking for you. And at worst- we are willing to protect you, should they happen to find you. It is logical, for the time being, for you to stay here and recover, at least partially. Then, we shall debate it.

"For now, however, you are to stay here. Safe."

Roman shook his head in bewilderment. "You are risking your lives."

"For a worthy cause," Patton said fiercely.

"Besides," Virgil said dryly, "if we are to die, at least we die beside a Prince. As I have dreamed to do since I was young."

Logan rolled his eyes. "It is settled then?" Roman opened his mouth to argue but then shut it slowly with a small nod. "Good. I am going to grab myself some breakfast."

"I'm coming with you," Virgil said, following after him.

Patton turned to Roman who looked deeply troubled. "Forgive them. They're stubborn."

Roman looked up with a half-smile. "You appear to be so too."

"Only 'cause we care."

"I'm afraid you all are making a terrible mistake," Roman said.

"Even still, you're worth it," Patton said passionately.

Roman shook his head in disbelief. "You don't even know me."

"That doesn't matter," Patton said.

"I think I quite like you already, Patton."

Patton smiled. "The feeling is a mutual one."

**Author's Note:**

> I’m so excited to post this! I had a dream about this and just… had to write it. Enjoy!
> 
> tumblr; princelogical


End file.
